Common name:Flowering Pear
Botanical name:Pyrus calleryana

This is the species of pear known as Flowering Pear, a highly ornamental, nearly ubiquitous deciduous tree favored by contractors, landscape designers, and homeowners. Many cultivars are avaialble in the trade, though they all possess some shared qualities: white spring flower that emerge before the foliage; glossy green foliage that turns red in fall; non-fruiting to small insignificant fruit; and a tolerance for urban conditions.

Common name:Garden Geranium
Botanical name:Pelargonium x hortorum

Garden Geraniums are shrubby, tender perennials that we grow as annuals due to their distaste of our cold winters. They come in a wealth of colors, both flowers and leaves. The flowers are actually clusters of lots of small flowers, blooming nearly all summer. The leaves are large, round, sometimes lobed, sometimes scalloped, typically green, though some have fabulous zones of red or mahogany, while others have white or other variegations. Many have a pleasant, musky scent. There are also ivy geraniums and scented geraniums; see those data sheets for more information.

Common name:English Ivy
Botanical name:Hedera helix cultivars

English Ivy is a self-clinging vine used as a groundcover or climbing vine. Though usually green, with lobed leaves, there are many varieties of ivy with variations in leaf size, shape, and color (some ivies have variegated leaves with margins or splotches of white, yellow, or red). All ivies are evergreen but not all are winter-hardy, so check the plant label. A bit slow to establish in our region, once it gets going it spreads quickly up walls, chain link fences, or over the ground. It is praised for its ability to cover an area quickly but loathed by others for the very same reason.